Zed Login Screen | League of Legends
Blending rigging, animation, particle systems, and visual effects to create a cohesive 2.5D animation.
I thoroughly enjoyed the process of this project. It was incredibly fun because it was a great mix of challenge, technique, and creativity. The character animation is done with DUIK inside of After Effects and is controlled mainly by a single Null Object that simulates breathing. Subsequent nulls and controllers are then delayed off of one another, creating a more dynamic and seamlessly looping motion!
This project in particular allowed me to fully utilize Trapcode and other effects/suites to create a more realistic 2.5D look in the animation. Trapcode in this project was particularly useful for the smoke, magic, falling particles, and waving flags. Trapcode certainly has a learning curve but I’m glad I stuck to it and learned how to properly utilize it!
Timeline: 1 Month (July 2024)
(breakdown pictured below)
Tools
Role
Photoshop
After Effects
Element 3D
Trapcode
Blender
DUIK
Rigging
Animation
Visual Effects
Art Breakup
Layering
Compositing
01 - VFX BReakdown
VFX #1
Looping smoke animation created using Trapcode Particular.
This was rendered out and used in the greater composition as a “proxy” to keep the project file performant and tidy.
This looping smoke animation was rendered three times with different sizes and variability for extra detail. These were then overlayed at different opacities.
VFX #2
Very simple animation using Trapcode Form, used in the composition for the Pedestal that Zed is on top of.
02 - RIGGING & Animation BReakdown
Layer breakdown & repainting for rigging.
Lots of metal layers that are deliberately separated onto their own layers for a “metal reflection” effect.
Rig created with DUIK and puppet pins. Legs and arms were created with IK, though only utilized in the legs so the legs stick convincingly to the pedestal Zed’s on top of.
2.5D is often something that’s exceptionally hard to achieve, especially inside of After Effects. For this particular project, I used Displacement Mapping, more specifically, Depth Maps.
I chose this method for this project specifically because Zed’s armor is made of metal, and other methods of 2.5D typically include distortion by hand, which wouldn’t be nearly as realistic and uniform.
These metal reflections were pivotal in adding some realism, being that the character is almost entirely made of metal, this is a very important effect to nail.
Like many other effects in MoGraph, these reflections were created with Fractal Noise and Displacement Mapping to wrap the fractal noise around the layer.
In an effort to create a reaction with the “sun” or light source, the metal reflection follows, and is slightly delayed off of the movement of the body.